


Ship of Fools

by iggycakes



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, M/M, its sad and raining, nonbinary azem, saying goodbye is hard to do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26533612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iggycakes/pseuds/iggycakes
Summary: SHADOWBRINGERS POST PATCH 5.3 SPOILERSHades says goodbye.
Relationships: Azem/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch
Kudos: 3





	Ship of Fools

**Author's Note:**

> featuring my azem oc Ananke who's a boy that uses she/her pronouns  
> and roxas' theme which i had on loop while writing this because i enjoy pain https://youtu.be/pRudm5jCXrs

“Is this it, then?”

Amaurot was shrouded in cold shadows, blue reflections dancing across tall buildings stretching into a twilight sky. Purple light covered by dark clouds, ready to burst at the seams. It would rain today, after weeks of drought. Ironic that it should be today, of all days, was the thought that crossed Hades’ mind as he ran across the courtyard.

Running was not his strong suit, nor was it becoming of someone of his station to be moving so inelegantly. Still, he knew he’d regret it forever if he let her slip away. If he didn’t see her one last time. 

Thunder rumbled in the distance and his legs were not carrying him nearly as fast as he’d have liked them to. He swallowed his breath and bit his lip.

The edge of Amaurot was empty and desolate. Nobody lived here anymore. Houses were left abandoned, untouched since their sacrifice. And the people who remained couldn’t bear to stay. How could you? When everything remained as it was, as if the people who were gone would just up and come back any moment, the loneliness was suffocating.

Ananke stood at the gates, a gloved hand on the metal, ready to push it open, but she did not move. She looked up at the roaring sky, golden eyes tracing lines of lightning.

Blue hair tied up into a messy braid cascading over her shoulder.

The rain started to pour. In gentle drops, like a clock counting down the seconds as moments pass. Hades stopped a few yalms away, fists clenched. He repeated himself.

“Is this it, then?”

Ananke turned around to face him, a forlorn smile on her tired features. She took her hand off the gate and walked towards him. 

“It will only get worse, Hades.You know that better than I.”

Her voice was small, but steady. Nothing like the Ananke he used to know-- the Ananke who would count the stars and name the constellations with him, who spoke of her worth and how she felt undeserving of her spot on the Convocation. This Ananke was not the weak, fragile boy he fell in love with. This Ananke was stronger, more determined. She had seen the world and conquered its horizons. This Ananke had long found her resolve and knew better than to sacrifice it. Even if it meant leaving behind everything she once loved.

Including him.

“It will be the end of everything as we know it.”

She took his hands in hers, squeezing them tight between her palms. Rain dripping down her cheeks like tears, golden eyes almost wavering.

“Then  _ stay. _ ”

He hated the desperation in his voice.

Her laughter was soft, drowning in thunder. “There’s nothing more I can do, love.”

“You can’t possibly know that.” Hades forced her to look at him. “Why are you burying our city when it’s still here? When  _ we’re  _ still here?”

Her eyes were on him, but it wasn’t Hades she was seeing. What she was seeing was something distant and unfathomable. A derelict, hopeless future where everything that had meaning is lost to the void. 

“I would rather remember my home when it was still beautiful.” She brought his hand up to her cheek and closed her eyes. “I would like to see it in my dreams. When everything else has been forgotten, washed away by the waves into the ocean's depths, I would like to remember her splendor.”

Golden eyes peeled open and she smiled like she used to. When she still loved him back. “I would like to remember the laughter of our friends. Lahabrea teasing me for not being able to reach a book on a high shelf. Hythlodaeus’ comforting hugs. Mitron and Loghrif’s late night debates about the aetherical efficiency of a lightbulb.”

She was crying now.

“But you will stand and watch it all be destroyed, won’t you?”

Her words were poison. 

“Is that what my efforts look like to you?” Hades exhaled, returning her spite with venom. “I’m  _ trying _ to save what we have left. We owe to ourselves not to give up.”

Why couldn’t she understand that?

“There was a time I would have agreed with you, Emet-Selch.”

Ananke let go and turned away. She walked a few steps, splashing the puddles that had formed at her feet. Her worn out robes looked heavy and drenched. She kicked the water as lightning flashed and thunder screamed once more. 

“But I have seen the world beyond these gates,” She glanced towards him again and picked up the mask that had been sitting around her neck and put it on. “I have seen life overcome great adversity countless times.”

She stood firm on her beliefs once more. Her smile returning to that which he didn’t recognize.

“I know that when things end, Light finds a way to shine again. And that, when our time here ends, something else will take our place. Something new and beautiful. When that time comes, I would not want to grieve what we lost. Instead, I want to accept that new future with open arms.”

Hades watched the vision of the person he once loved get further and further away. How easy it was for him to find her essence, and yet he couldn’t catch up. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. How easily she was giving up on the things that mattered most to them.

“Remember when you said you could recognize my soul anywhere?”

“I do.”

She crossed her fingers behind her back, leaned forward and cocked her head to the side. “Tell me then, what color is it?”

Hers was a bright, bright sun. Warmth. Home. Love. She was a guiding star in the dark, an unmistakable light.

Hades opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came.

Ananke’s smile widened once more before she turned around and began walking away.

“Goodbye, Hades.”

Her hand on the gate, pushing it open, as he saw countless times before. But today would be the last time he would see her leave him. He knew she would never come back. Whoever Ananke was now, her resolve would never let her return. 

Hades hated it. He would prove her wrong. He would show her that he could save everyone. The Convocation would succeed and they would fix everything. The horrible future she foresaw would never come to pass. He would never let it. He would rather die.

Her back disappeared into the night, behind curtains of rain.

“Goodbye, Azem.”


End file.
